Femtosecond Fiber

FemtoFiber technology for ultrafast lasers

The engine of TOPTICA‘s fiber lasers is a SAM mode-locked ring oscillator. This configuration – protected by an optical isolator – is known to be most robust against back reflections of any kind. This high stability of the mode-locking is caused by operating in the solitonic regime. Special TOPTICA design ensures full suppression of parasitic pedestals (Kelly-bands). The soliton pulses are carefully amplified to very high peak powers in a subsequent core-pumped fiber amplifier. This MOPA (Master Oscillator Power Amplifier) platform is an all-fiber setup based completely on polarization-maintaining fibers. By using Erbium and Ytterbium doped fibers, TOPTICA provides these advantages of fiber lasers for two fundamental wavelength regions around 1560 nm (Er) and 1030 - 1064 nm (Yb).

The FemtoFiber series, using SAM mode-locking technique and polarization-maintaining fiber technology, are forming TOPTICA's state-of-the-art ultrafast fiber laser series. With diode pumped all-fiber oscillator and amplifier designs without any free beam sections, a new breakthrough concerning robustness, reliability and long-term stability could be achieved. Furthermore, a hands-off one-button design allows these lasers to be used in various new applications such as life sciences, attoscience, optical coherence tomography, time-domain terahertz - even towards industrial/OEM integration.

The fiber oscillators of the FemtoFiber lasers may be used for seeding either one or more optical amplifiers. Synchronized multiple laser systems are highly beneficial in applications like frequency metrology and pump-probe experiments. Several options further extend the scope of the scientific series of the FemtoFiber lasers. These include frequency conversion extensions and options for synchronizing the laser pulses to other pulsed sources.

Fiber Laser Advantages

Good Reasons to Change from Solid State to Fiber Technology

Fiber

Solid State

Long gain medium: efficient

Short gain medium: inefficient

Cool fiber: excellent thermal properties

Concentrated pump power: hot crystal, thermal lensing

Guaranteed overlap inside fiber, always perfectly aligned

Critical overlap of pump light and oscillator path, easily misaligned

Single-mode fiber guarantees diffraction limited mode profile

Mode profile depending on pump laser profile and cavity alignment

FemtoFiber: Telecom reliability

FemtoFiber vs. Ti:Sa Laser

Telecom components, reliable and economical

Expensive components

Robust and shock-proof

Fragile optics

Small, portable, quiet

Bulky, with additional pump laser and noisy chiller

Maintenance free

Regular maintenance

24/7 robust operation

PM fiber assembly

All-fiber: Alignment-free

Telcordia proven components

Turnkey

Reliable SAM technology

Self-starting mode-locking

Price and System Size

Cost-effective & low cost of ownership

Compact footprin

Neither air nor water cooling required

PM fiber Technology

Polarization-maintaining (PM) fibers preserve the linear state of polarization under all circumstances: Temperature, mechanical stress, humidity or other environmental influences can‘t disturb the stable laser operation.